Edwards Fund-Raiser Heads Muslim Brotherhood Organization

The Investigative Project has identified the national director of the American Muslim Council (AMC), a long-standing U.S. Muslim Brotherhood organization, as a fundraiser for Presidential candidate John Edwards. According to the report:

M. Ali Khan, a Chicago investment banker, has been the AMC’s national director since 2003. Khan has helped organize at least two fundraisers for Edwards and, in a series of internet postings, described how he has reached the inner sanctum of the former senator’s campaign advisors. He spent most of December in Iowa, where Edwards finished second in the Jan. 3 caucus. “There are about 10 Edwards insiders that have been invited to help John in Des Moines,” Khan wrote in a December 2 post. “Most Insiders are from Chapel Hill, but we have Portland, Seattle, LA. New York and myself from Chicago.” Khan is listed by the Edwards campaign as a fundraising solicitor and he helped host at least two campaign fundraisers, one May 9 and one June 13. He has been with AMC at least since 1998. The organization was founded in 1990 by Abdurahman Alamoudi. Alamoudi was arrested in September 2003 and subsequently indicted in the Eastern District of Virginia for illegal transactions with Libya. He is now serving a 23-year prison sentence. Government officials also say Alamoudi served as a financial courier for Al Qaeda. …the Washington Post reported: “Ali Khan, a Chicago investment banker who formerly was AMC’s treasurer, said yesterday Alamoudi controlled all its affairs. Alamoudi brought in large sums of money from Saudi Arabia but refused to detail their origin, Khan said. Khan said that for years he sought an accounting of the funds, but Alamoudi refused. Alamoudi has publicly acknowledged bringing funds from Saudi Arabia for his organizations.”

The AMC was known for some time as a Muslim Brotherhood organization but was impacted severely by Alamoudi’s troubles. The current AMC website lists the names of the organizations current directors and advisors only two of which, Ali Mazrui and Aminah McCloud, have well-known connections to the Muslim Brotherhood. The Investigative Project article also cites some statements by Mr. Khan that are representative of positions commonly held by the Brotherhood:

Two of those chances to get to know Edwards better came in fundraisers Khan hosted on June 13 and September 4. But what Khan considers a human rights issue and what he considers terrorism is open to question. Al-Arian, an acknowledged member of a designated terrorist group, is worthy of “a personal jihad.” When Israeli forces attacked Hizballah targets in Lebanon, he accused Israel of a “campaign of “terror” in Southern Lebanon, and “state terrorism.” In May 2004, Khan wrote, “Despite this country’s claim to be a defender of human rights and freedom, President Bush and his administration have turned a blind eye on the terror being set loose by the Israeli government on Palestinians.” Khan has pushed the idea of the victimization of American Muslims after 9/11. For example, at a May 2002 forum at Purdue University, Khan waved a speeding ticket claiming he had received it as a result of profiling. “I’m making an issue out of this. My sense of freedom has been lost since 9/11” He did not clarify how police radar was able to determine his religious affiliation. Khan never mentioned the ticket again, and presumably never contested it on the grounds of “profiling.”